Better Than New
by CoramDeo
Summary: Two years after their miraculous reunion, the five members of the Dreemurr family are enjoying a happy life together. But not all painful memories heal so quickly. When a melancholy day for one member of the family is made worse by a torn pair of pants, can the situation provide a way for someone else to express their affection and commitment?


**Acknowledgements:**

This story owes its origins to an idea suggested by Daishi based on the cover art picture. The illustrator of the picture is unknown - I believe it might be Rukiiuu, though it does not appear on his DA page. If anyone knows for sure, let me know and I will be happy to give proper credit.

Thanks also to SparkleRaptor (TakaiWolf) for her proofreading and suggestions.

* * *

**Better Than New**

Toriel looked at the clock on the wall and frowned slightly. _6:07. _"Why don't you two go ahead and start?" she called over her shoulder as she continued to stir the contents of the bowl in front of her. "The boys can eat when they get back."

"Ok, dear," her husband called back.

The sound of clinking plates and silverware floated into the kitchen as Asgore and Chara began eating. She turned back to the recipe propped up on the counter beside the mixing bowl. It had been Asriel's turn to pick a dessert that week, and his enthusiastic choice that morning of butterscotch pie hadn't been surprising. Nor had it been unusual for him to immediately check himself, then turn to his sister and ask if she had any preference. Chara usually let Asriel have his way (it was her turn to pick next week, and after almost two years being back with the Dreemurrs, her patience had improved considerably), but this morning she had asked if there was anything chocolatey Toriel could make. Which was why Toriel was now squinting at the printout of a recipe for chocolate-butterscotch-meringue pie she had found on the Internet.

"One tablespoon of vanilla, three eggs… wait… no, one _teaspoon_. Goodness, pay attention Toriel!" she murmured to herself. Cooking came automatically to her, and she had never ruined a pie yet. Which was good, because she had to admit that she was distracted. She looked towards the wall again. _6:10_.

It wasn't like Asriel and Frisk to be this late. They were usually quite punctual. Even if she hadn't reminded them to be home by 6:00, the fact that they were having steak for dinner (ribeyes for Chara and Frisk, MTT Face Steaks™ for the monsters) was usually incentive enough to ensure everyone was at the table on time. _Still, they were only ten minutes late_, the rational part of her brain told her. _That's hardly late at all_. Which was entirely reasonable and correct, she agreed. The uneasy little "mom" part of her brain was worried about nothing. "Ok, let's see, I need both white sugar and brow-"

She froze, her measuring cup suspended in the air. Contrary to expectations, Toriel's long floppy ears did nothing to diminish her incredibly sensitive hearing. Those ears were now picking up a faint sound, which seemed to be approaching the house. She remained rigid for another moment, her eyes opened wide. Then the measuring cup dropped to the counter with a clatter, spilling sugar everywhere, as she rushed from the kitchen through the dining area and towards the front door.

Toriel could perhaps be forgiven for having a highly-developed mothering instinct. She had wanted to be a mom even from her teenage years, and the joy, heartache, and soul-crushing loss she had experienced with multiple children who called her "mom" had only served to intensify her nurturing nature. Her reunion with Asgore had helped to temper some of her more stifling instincts - Asgore was entirely willing to let the children climb to the top of the magnolia tree without wearing any safety gear - but her protective inclinations never let her be completely at ease with the roughhousing antics of her children. And ever since the day that Frisk had hiked back up to Mt. Ebott and had returned to the house that evening, grinning from ear to ear, flanked on either side and holding the hands of two children who could not possibly, _possibly _be standing there with him… well, every hug and tear and laugh and kiss that had followed had become part of a fortress Toriel built around the souls of her three children - a commitment that she would never, _ever_ lose them again.

Which is why the faint sound of wailing mixed with bleating, growing closer every second, drove everything else out of her mind. The pie was forgotten, the two surprised occupants at the dinner table were ignored, and the logical part of her mind was rudely kicked to the back of her head as Toriel switched to full mom-mode. The rational part of her mind weakly tried to tell her that surely Frisk would have called earlier if there was a serious problem, so if they were running home it couldn't be that bad. But Toriel paid it no attention. By the time the sound of weeping reached the front door, Toriel had charged up enough healing magic to make Chara's steak start mooing again.

The door burst open, and Asriel stumbled inside bawling, followed closely by a sheepish-looking Frisk. "My child!" Toriel said as she knelt down and enveloped the furry boy in a hug and an excessively-large green glow. "What is wrong? Are you hurt? Do you need help? Are you in danger? Where are you leaking dust? Asgore! Asgore, come quickly and help me!"

Asgore pushed away from the dining table and hurried over uncertainly, magic at the ready. "It's not really that bad, mom" Frisk said as Asriel's muffled blubbering continued somewhere underneath Toriel's arms. "He got a little scraped up, but it's nothing major."

"Frisk!" said Toriel indignantly. Asriel's sobs had begun to subside a little, though the sounds of loud sniffling could still be heard. "You both were supposed to be back here more than ten minutes ago! Why are you late? What happened?" Her face softened again, and she reached a paw out to him. "Are you hurt, my child? Do you need to be healed anywhere?"

"No, I'm OK mom," Frisk said, shuffling a bit in embarrassment. "I'm sorry we're late. We were gonna leave, and we were just finishing the last race, and then Asriel fell and Mike wanted to see if he was OK and…"

"Frisk," Asgore gently interrupted, "perhaps you should start from the beginning. What exactly happened?"

"Come on, Asriel", Chara called from the table. "What have I told you about blubbering like that? It can't be all that bad if you were able to run home. Big kids don't cry, remember?"

"Now, Chara," Asgore said, turning towards the table "be nice to your brother. Go ahead Frisk."

"Well," began Frisk, "we went over to Monster Kid's house and were playing some videogames for a while. Then we-"

"How does MK play video games without any arms?" Chara called out.

"Chara, don't interrupt your brother."

"He does it with magic. Which means he can cheat and move our controllers too, but he usually just does it for fun now and then. Anyway, his mom sent us outside after a couple of hours, so we-"

"You got to play video games for a couple of HOURS? Dad, do I get to play that much here since they got to?"

"Chara, _please!_" Asgore called back to the table.

"Well it doesn't seem fair that _they_ got to play videogames for a couple of hours while I was just reading and knitting," Chara pouted.

"_Anyway_", Frisk continued, glaring at his sister, "we decided we would have some races and make an obstacle course. So we did that, and we ran it a few times, but Mike said it wasn't fair because he couldn't run as fast without any arms. So, to make it fair, me and Asriel pulled our arms inside our shirts. And then it was almost 6:00 so we were going to have one more championship race, and so we all started running, and- "

"And I TRIPPED," wailed Asriel who had extricated himself from the hug. "I fell right on my face just like MK always does, but this time it really HURT!"

"Ree, I'm pretty sure it hurts for MK when he falls too", Chara helpfully called out.

"And now I have all these scratches on my face and my arms right here and… uh… well, I DID have scratches. And they hurt!" Asriel gestured helplessly at his former wounds which had now vanished, along with two weeks' worth of other bruises and scrapes. "So, Frisk and I ran home."

"Well, I am glad you are OK now, dear." Toriel had recovered from her panic, and the rational part of her brain was beginning to shove her motherly protectiveness back into its own lane. "Why don't you and Frisk wash up, and then you can start eating. I will give Monster Kid's mother a call to let her know that you are all right, so she won't be worried."

"But MOM!" Asriel's face scrunched up again in tears. "Look!"

He pointed to his pants. A jagged tear had been ripped right above his left knee. "They got torn when I fell. And these are my f-favorite pants! I just got them last month and now they're r-ruined!" He began to bawl again.

"They're just pants, Asriel! Don't be a crybaby!" Chara advised.

"Well, go get washed up and put on another pair of pants. You can put those on my mending pile, and I'll fix them when I get a chance", Toriel squeezed her son then stood up.

"Can you fix them tonight?" Asriel looked up pleadingly, tears still running down his cheeks.

"No, dear, I have to finish the pie, and then I have some papers to grade."

"Can you do it tomorrow?"

"No, we have the talent show at the librarby tomorrow night, remember? Frisk and Shyren and going to be singing a duet, and Chara's going to read some of her poetry."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Asriel looked despondent. "Well can you do it soon? I really like these pants."

"I'll do it when I can dear, but you have plenty of other pants you can wear."

"I guess." Asriel slumped off towards the stairs and dragged himself up towards the bedroom he shared with Frisk. Frisk took a look at the meal on the table, stopped to grab an apple slice, then ran up after his brother.

* * *

By the time Asriel and Frisk came down, Asriel looking unhappy with the faded pair of brown pants he was wearing, Asgore and Chara were finishing their meal. Toriel's pie was in the oven and she was now finally starting dinner herself. The boys plopped into their chairs, bowed their heads for a minute, then began to devour their steaks.

"Can I be excused, mom?" Chara asked. "I'm done".

Toriel glanced at Asgore, who nodded. "All right dear. Put your things in the dishwasher. Once everyone's finished, we can play a game before bed."

"Whose turn is it to pick?"

"I think it's Frisk's turn tonight."

"Oh!" Frisk perked up. "Let play _King of Tokyo_!"

"Oh, man," whined Asriel. "I'm no good at that. You always kill me!"

"Well, you can choose something different when it's your turn, Asriel, but let's play what Frisk wants tonight."

"Ok", Asriel said glumly as he pushed his fork around on his plate.

Toriel glanced at her son a little more worriedly. It wasn't like Asriel to be in such a downcast mood. Normally he was good-humored even when playing games he didn't like. Even bumps and bruises, though accompanied with tears, didn't suppress his usual cheerfulness for long. Something more than scrapes and torn pants seemed to be bothering him.

Chara excused herself and went up the stairs. The rest of the meal continued with small talk about the events of the day, the plans for the talent show tomorrow, and excited descriptions by Frisk about how he beat MK on Rainbow Road, and totally would have got him on Sunshine Airport except for that stupid blue shell. Asriel for the most part just played with his food, grunting occasionally.

* * *

Asgore pondered the cardboard figure of "The King" in his large paw as Toriel rolled the six dice. "This game does not appear to depict monsters very accurately."

"That's probably because a game of _King of Mt. Ebott_ would involve a lot more gardening and tea parties, and a lot fewer acid attacks," Frisk grinned.

Toriel looked over her dice. "Let's see, a 3, another 3, two hearts and two attacks. I'm almost at full health so I don't really need the hearts, and… well…" Toriel glanced up at her daughter. Her kind-hearted nature made her reluctant to attack, especially since Chara's Meka Dragon, currently wreaking havoc in Tokyo, was down to its last three HP. She scooped up the attack dice and rerolled them. "Ugh, a 1 and a 2, that's no help. I really need a 3". Leaving the two 3's she had already rolled, she used her final opportunity to re-roll the four other dice. "Oh good, a 3, and… oh dear!" A flush crept over her cheeks as she looked at the three "attacks" she had just rolled. She looked apologetically at Chara. "I'm sorry dear! I wasn't trying to knock you out of the game."

"That's OK", Chara said, sliding out of her chair. "I've got some work I need to do anyway."

"Chara, can you stay and help me?" Some of Asriel's usual excitement had returned. "You're good at helping me figure out which cards I should buy!"

"Sorry, Ree, I have some things I need to do before bed tonight. Maybe another time."

Asriel's face fell and his eyes grew moist. Chara turned and headed upstairs. Frisk watched her go, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Don't worry, son", Asgore said, "it looks like Frisk is about out of the game, too. He only has one HP left. Maybe he will help you if he gets hit again?"

"You forgot, dad!" Frisk held up a card triumphantly. "I have 'It Has a Child', so if I die, I get to come back!"

"It's a strange game that lets you die, then keep playing as if nothing had happened," murmured Toriel. "Ok, Asgore, it's your turn."

The game continued on for another 40 minutes. Chara's careful balance of resource-gathering punctuated by bursts of violent mayhem usually kept her in the game much longer, but she had uncharacteristically stayed in Tokyo far too long, leading to her early demise. Toriel's peaceful treatment of the other players was not reciprocated by either of her sons, and it wasn't long before Gigazaur lay dead under a hail of poison quills. She excused herself to go check on the pie. Asgore came close to reaching 20 points but was finished off by Frisk's spiked tail. And then it was down to the brothers.

"Ha, you're doomed Frisk! I have 19 points and since I'm in Tokyo, I'm going to win on my next turn! You've only got 15 points, and you can't kill me this turn."

"Yeah, you're right about that, Asriel. Hmmmmm..." Frisk made an exaggerated show of scratching his chin with his finger and thumb. Asriel's eye's narrowed. "Wait… what are you going to do?"

"Well, maybe I'll just buy this 'Jet Fighters' card," Frisk grinned as he picked it up. "That gives me four damage which, ouch, only leaves me with two, and… hey! Looks like I get five points. That's 20. I win!"

"Ugh!" Asriel swept his cards away in disgust. "This is why I needed Chara here! She would have seen that coming a mile away!"

"Yep!" Frisk agreed, still grinning.

"Boys, if you've finished the game, please put it away and get ready for bed", called their mother from the kitchen. The game was quickly boxed up and put into the game cupboard.

"Can we have some pie before bed?" Frisk asked.

"Yes - get your pajamas on, then you can come have some. Tell Chara when you go upstairs."

"I heard, mom," said Chara, now dressed in fuzzy green pajamas. She passed her brothers as they thumped their way up the stairs. The door of their bedroom slammed shut. "Can I have a slice?"

"Yes, dear. But I'm going to make the slices small tonight, since it's getting late".

Without warning, a loud, high-pitched squeal burst out of the boys' bedroom. Asgore dropped the book he had been reading and leapt to his feet. Toriel whirled around and began hurrying towards the stairs, her wide eyes staring up towards the bedrooms beyond the landing. Neither of them noticed a slight tugging at the corner of Chara's mouth, nor the odd way she maneuvered over to the sideboard to brace herself against it.

Before Toriel could take three steps, Asriel burst out of his room and began stumbling down the steps at full speed, gripping a long piece of cloth tightly in his right paw. A bewildered Frisk was right behind him, coming down more carefully.

Asriel's eyes were bright and as wide as saucers. The moment he caught sight of Chara, who now had a faint smile playing on her face, he cannonballed directly into her. Ignoring her faint "_oof_," he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her shoulder, squeezing tight. The cloth object was still in his paw.

"Thank you, Chara! Thank you! That was soooo sweet of you! I love it!"

Chara tentatively reached out around with the arm that wasn't pinned to her side and patted Asriel on the back. "You're welcome, Ree. It really wasn't anything."

The other three people in the room were still completely mystified. "Asriel… Chara… what is going on? Did something happen?" Toriel asked.

Asriel disengaged from Chara and turned to wave the object in his paw like a flag at his mother. "Look, mom! Look what Chara did!" With wet eyes and an ear-to-ear smile, he spread out the object. It was the same pair of pants he had been wearing when he had arrived home, but the jagged tear that had been on the left knee was gone. In its place, neatly sewn on, was a navy-blue patch. And in the center of the patch, a large red heart had been carefully stitched on.

Toriel gasped. "Why… why that's wonderful, Chara! Did you do that just now?"

Chara shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I finished up my stuff, and I already had been working on the heart part earlier. So since I didn't have anything else to do and I knew you were busy, I figured I might as well sew the patch onto the _ooof_!

The furry boy was all over her again, immobilizing her against the sideboard. "That was so NICE of you, Chara! I love it! I'm going to wear these pants every day! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Toriel cleared her throat. "Well, first of all, they're going to go into the wash since they're still filthy. But thank you Chara - that was very thoughtful of you. All right, let's come into the kitchen and celebrate with some pie. I hope you like this new recipe!

* * *

Chara was in bed, covers pulled around her, reading a book. She was waiting for her father to come and kiss everyone goodnight, and judging from the muted giggles and thumping she could hear from her brothers' room, they weren't anywhere near ready for bed. Oh well - all the more time to read. She settled back against her pillow and consulted the map of Aerwiar in the front of the book to remind herself where the family cottage was. She glanced over at her desk, which sat next to a wall decorated with a large number of taped-up pictures and one framed drawing. A plate sitting on the desk held the rest of a surprisingly large piece of pie. Was she still hungry? No, might as well save it for later.

There was a knock at the door. There was no accompanying "Chara?" that would have come from either of her parents. And the knock had sounded firm, not soft and tentative. So…

"Come in, Frisk," she called out. The door opened, and Frisk grinned as he came in. "I keep forgetting to change how I knock. One of these days I'm gonna fool you."

"Oh, I doubt it. I have _ways_ of knowing which of you two is knocking, no matter what you do. Do you need something?"

Frisk sat down on the end of the bed. "That was a really nice thing you did for Azzy. He is super-excited about that new patch."

Chara shrugged. "Well, it really wasn't anything. I just figured mom wouldn't get around to it for a few weeks, so I just decided to do it. I didn't really have anything else to do."

Frisk lowered his head and gave her a look of mock disapproval. "C'mon, Chara. There's gotta be more to it than just that. What's the real story?"

"It's true!" Chara protested. "I got done with supper early because _you_ were late, and then I got knocked out of the game pretty quick. I just needed something to do. I knew Ree liked those pants, so I just put a patch on them. What's the big deal?"

"A patch with a big red heart on it?"

"Y-yes. It's just what I had on hand."

Frisk raised his eyebrows at her. "Chara, Azzy may have known you longer, but he didn't have you running around in his head like I did. I know how you think, sis. There's more going on than you just being bored and pulling out the sewing machine. I mean, you don't _have_ to tell me if you don't want, but it was just a sweet thing to do and…" he shrugged. "I just wanted to ask you about it."

Chara's eyes drifted downward. She was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed and set her book down on the night table beside the bed. "It was his shirt," she said. "Did you notice which one he wore today?"

A light of comprehension dawned on Frisk's face. "Oh… it was the Flowey one, wasn't it? I remember seeing it, but I guess I didn't pay any attention."

Chara nodded. Asriel's wardrobe was about as simple as it came - a bevy of green-and-yellow striped shirts, long and short sleeved (along with a few other shirts he was forced to wear for nice occasions) and a variety of neutral-colored pants and shorts. One shirt was different that the rest, however. A few weeks after they had been reunited as family, Asriel had come to Chara one afternoon, unusually subdued. He showed her a patch he had asked a local shopkeeper to make for him and had asked if she could sew it onto the sleeve of one of his shirts. The patch depicted a bright yellow flower poking out the ground, a neutral expression on its face.

"Has he told you why he wears that one?" Chara asked.

Frisk shrugged. "Sort of. I can tell he wears it on days when he's a feeling a little more moody, but I hate to pry into his business. He's told me that sometimes he feels like he ought to "remember". I'm guessing he's talking about remembering what happened after he..." Frisk gulped. "I mean, before you and he came back?"

"Yes, something like that". Chara sighed. "You remember what we were like when we first came back, right? I could barely understand what was going on, or why I was even alive, or why mom and dad and Asriel didn't hate my guts. I was kind of a mess those first few weeks. Asriel seemed to adjust to being alive and fuzzy again quicker because… well, he's _Asriel_ ." Chara rolled her eyes. "But still, I could tell that things weren't great for him at first. It was only a few weeks after we had come back when he asked me to sew on the patch. I asked him why. He said he felt like he didn't want to forget what he had done when he was Flowey. He wanted remember how cruel he had been, so that he would never do it again."

"Sounds like an honest attempt to face up to what he had done," Frisk said, nodding.

"No, it was _stupid_, Frisk." Chara glared at her brother. "He was torturing himself because he felt guilty about something that I was responsible for. Everything that happened to him was because of me and my stupid plans. If I hadn't been there, none of it would have ever happened." Frisk opened his mouth to protest, but Chara put up a hand to cut him off. "No, no - I know what you're going to say Frisk. You've told me that before and I appreciate it." Frisk closed his mouth, and Chara's face softened. "Really… I appreciate it," she said more softly. "It… it helps."

The two children were silent for a moment. A bit of the fire returned to Chara's crimson eyes. "And those things that Flowey did? You said it yourself, Frisk - nobody knows Ree better than I do. I don't know what happened to him when that flower was around, but I am absolutely sure that the Asriel I know, who wouldn't even hurt the people who were killing him - even when I was _begging him to_… he wasn't the person living inside that flower. He _couldn't_ have been. I don't care if it had Asriel's memories. It didn't have his soul, and _it wasn't him._ It's just not _possible!_" There was a slight tremble to Chara's hands as she forcefully threw back the covers, stomped over to her dresser, and viciously stabbed the pie with the fork.

Frisk watched his sister silently as Chara swallowed the bite, then took another one a little less fiercely. After a moment of chewing, she put the fork down. Her eyes appeared distant and unfocused.

"But he really, really wanted me to do it. And you know how he is. A big crybaby if he doesn't get his way."

Frisk noticed Chara absentmindedly fingering something on the end of a chain around her neck.

"So I did it. But I told him that nobody was mad at him - that I wasn't mad, that I was sorry I had put him through that, that he didn't have to keep remembering Flowey… you know, all those things I've told him about twenty times now?" Chara sighed. "And every time I see him with that shirt, I try to remember to say something… nice".

"I'm sure that really means a lot to him," Frisk said softly.

She blinked and seemed to remember that her brother was there. She glanced at him, then made her way back to the bed and sat down next to him. "Yes… perhaps it does. And it seems like he hasn't been picking that shirt very often for the last few months, so maybe… maybe things are getting better."

"I think both of you are getting a lot better. I can hardly tell anything's wrong with either of you anymore," said Frisk.

That got him another glare. "Well _thanks_, I guess. It's wonderful to hear I'm not as big a sociopath as I was. How touching."

Frisk ignored the jibe. "But you didn't actually answer my question, sis. About the patch on the knee? And the heart?"

"Oh". A flush crept over Chara's already ruddy cheeks. She started fingering the object on the chain again. For a moment she was quiet. The faint sounds of Asgore and Toriel chattering floated up the stairs, along with the clinking sounds of the kitchen being cleaned up. Neither child paid attention to the sound of the bedroom door next to Chara's opening.

"Well, I figured if he was going to constantly have a patch reminding him of something terrible he didn't deserve to have to live with… then maybe I could give him another patch to remind him of something else. That he'll always be my brother and my best friend… and…" Chara's face was fiercely red and she bent her head away from Frisk's eyes. "and that he's really cool and that I lrvf hm," she mumbled quietly.

"You LRVF HM? Really, sis?" The grin was back on Frisk's face. "That's so sweet! I lrvf Azzy too!"

"Shut up, Frisk!" Chara shot him a dirty look "He's just a cool brother, that's all!" She appeared to be about to tell him off further, when suddenly her eyes widened, and a look of horror crossed her face. Her eyes were focused over his shoulder. Frisk turned around towards the doorway.

"That's right, Chaaaaara! It's me, your cooool brother, Aaaaasriel Dreeeeeemurr!" The goat prince in question was standing in the hallway outside Chara's door, still in the same shirt but wearing the mended pair of pants again. His paws were raised above his head, holding two cardboard tubes. A long purple cape, tied around his neck, was trailing on the floor behind him. "Look at meeeeee, I'm all floaty and awesome and stuff", he said as he danced his way into Chara's room. "I have chaaaaaaos sabers!"

"REE, HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING THIS WHOLE TIME?" yelled Chara, eyes blazing. "What in the WORLD are you doing? You're such a dork!"

"Is that one of mom's bath towels?" Frisk asked with interest. "That is so cool! I gotta try that."

"Yeeeeees, it is very cool, because I am the coolest, most powerful monster ever! And I will use my power to defend my dear sister because she loooov…"

"Aaaugh! Stop! Chara readies 'Shocker Pillow!'" she yelled as she grabbed her pillow and flung it at the furry child. The pillow struck Asriel directly in the face, and he yelped. Dropping his "sabers", he staggered backwards into the hallway, then crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Nooooo! Chara, whyyy? I was your best frieeeeend!" he cried out pitifully.

"If you were my best friend, why did you eat all the jalapeño chisps yesterday? I hardly got any! And throw me my pillow back."

"I like chisssps…" the dying prince gasped weakly, as he rearranged Chara's pillow to be under his head. "They help my fire magic!" He began to cough and writhe in agony. "But I guess... they will all... be yours from now on." His voice weakened until it was barely a whisper. "This... is the end. Farewell, dear sister - be goo…"

"Don't worry, Asriel!" Frisk leapt from the bed and ran over to the twitching boy in the hall. "I'll absorb your soul until I can find you another body! Is this it here? Is this heart thing on your knee your soul? Let me absorb it!" He began squeezing the knee covered by the heart patch and, for good measure, the other knee as well.

"ACK!" bleated the prince, who appeared to experience a miraculous recovery and began kicking his legs. "No, not my knees Frisk! That's not my soul that's not my _ahhhhhh, stop stop!_"

"Hold still, Azzy, I'm trying to save your soul!"

"_No you're not you're ticklinAAAAH STOP!"_

Chara shook her head as she watched the struggle. "You're both a couple of hyperdorks, you know that?"

"**OH NO!**" There was a sudden pounding of heavy feet on the staircase. Asgore flung himself up the last few steps and knelt down beside Asriel. "My son, are you in distress? Is your brother trying to absorb your soul? Wait, Frisk! I may be able to save him yet! Let me try my healing magic!" Asgore plunged his fingers into the soft sides and belly and armpits of the boy on the floor.

" _AAAAAH no dad, that's not how healingaaaaaaah that's not how healing magic workaaaaaaaah! Stop STOP I can't breathe!" _

Without stopping his work of healing, Asgore turned his head towards his other son. Frisk's eyelids grew so wide his eyes were almost visible, and he scrambled to scoot backwards. But he was too late to escape the giant paw that enveloped him.

"Frisk, are you injured also? I can help you with your wounds as well!"

"No, no, no dad, I'm fine, I'm _perfectly fine_, it's only Asriel who _waaaaaaahhhhh! nggggggh! aaaaaahhh!_"

"Excuse me!" another voice floated up from the living room below. "If you four children have nothing better to do, you could come down here and help clean up the living room!"

"I'm asleep!" yelled Chara as she slammed the door on the squirming, yelling chaos in the hallway. She decided to finish off the last of the pie as the sounds floated under the door of Asriel and Frisk trying to convince their father that yes, they were healed now and perfectly fine and please let them get up.

Eventually, the gasping and giggling settled down, and Chara heard the heavy footsteps descend the staircase again, with a promise to return once everyone was _really_ ready for bed. She took a final sip of water and walked back over to the bed. Just as she was getting ready to turn off the lamp and crawl under the covers, there was a soft, tentative knock on her door.

"Come in, Ree".

The door swung open, and Asriel came in, a little more disheveled than before, still wearing the purple towel and carrying Chara's pillow. His eyes were bright and his face was lit up by a smile.

"Here's your pillow back, Chara," he said as he tossed it to her. "And thanks again for this!" He raised his left knee. "This is such an awesome gift! And I know how much you like playing _King of Tokyo_, so it was really sweet of you to do this instead."

"I simply didn't play very well tonight, so that gave me some extra time with nothing else to do." The unwavering smile told Chara how thin her excuse was - it wasn't even fooling Asriel. "But you're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

She had forgotten to brace herself this time, so the sudden rushing hug staggered her back against the night table, wobbling the lamp dangerously. "I do - I love it! I'm going to wear these pants every single day!"

"I think mom might have something to say about that. And don't forget to put them in the wash tonight - you still have dirt all over them. And now all over me too," Chara griped as she squeezed out of the hug and flicked some of the dried bits of mud off her pajamas.

"Oh, sorry! Yeah, OK, I'll wait until they're clean again." Asriel began to back towards the door, nearly tripping on his cape in the process. "But thanks, Chara! I… I…" He stopped and blushed, his paw finding something hanging around his neck to fidget with. "I guess I did hear a little of what you and Frisk were saying. And yeah, Frisk is right. I think we're both doing a lot better than we were." He grew quiet, and gave Chara a questioning look. She lowered her eyes and gave a small nod. "But if I'm ever sad, this will definitely cheer me up. So, thanks!"

This time Chara saw the warning signs, so the second explosive hug posed no threat to her or the furniture. "You're welcome, Asriel. I'm glad it helps."

"Ok, I'm leaving now! Goodnight, Chara! I love you!"

"Thank you, Asriel", Chara said with a slight smile. Asriel left the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Chara sighed, and switched off the lamp, and climbed into bed. In the dark, snuggled under the covers, she allowed herself a bigger smile. "I love you too, bro." she murmured quietly.

There was a soft "hmmmm" outside her door, as if someone with deceptively sensitive ears had been standing there and had just let out a happy sigh. Chara sat bolt upright.

"GO TO BED, REE!"


End file.
